Joe Biden opened the floodgates and let millions of illegal aliens pour into America.
Many with serious criminal records.
And Trump just shut down rogue immigration judges with one devastating move that changes everything.
Board of Immigration Appeals strips judges of bond authority
The Board of Immigration Appeals handed down a landmark ruling on September 5, 2025 that permanently strips immigration judges of their authority to grant bond to illegal aliens who entered the country without authorization.¹
The decision in Matter of Yajure Hurtado reverses nearly three decades of activist judges releasing criminals back onto American streets.
For years, immigration judges conducted bond hearings for illegal aliens who crossed the border unlawfully, allowing them to remain free in American communities while their deportation cases dragged through the courts.²
Now that’s over.
The ruling classifies anyone who entered the United States without formal admission as an "applicant for admission" subject to mandatory detention under the Immigration and Nationality Act.³
Immigration judges can no longer grant bond hearings or authorize release for anyone who crossed the border illegally, regardless of how long they’ve been in the country or whether they have a criminal record.⁴
The only exception involves humanitarian parole granted directly by the Department of Homeland Security, which under Trump’s administration remains extraordinarily rare.
Democrats built this broken system under Clinton
Here’s what these activist judges won’t tell you about the system they’ve been abusing.
The framework for catch-and-release came from Bill Clinton’s 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act.
The law established new grounds for deportation and mandates for detention, but Clinton’s Immigration and Naturalization Service immediately undermined it in 1997 by concluding that illegal aliens found in the interior remained eligible for bond.⁵
That "erroneous interpretation" got replicated for nearly 30 years while Democrats weaponized the immigration court system.
Barack Obama turned this broken framework into an assembly line for releasing criminals.
His administration conducted over 3 million formal deportations, but 75% of those removed never saw a judge before being expelled.⁶
The ones who did get hearings?
Immigration judges granted bond in 56% of cases during Obama’s final years, allowing hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens to disappear into American communities.⁷
By the time Biden took office, the system had become a revolving door.
Immigration judges were releasing illegal aliens on bond even when they posed obvious flight risks or had criminal histories.
Average bond amounts dropped to near-record lows while grant rates fluctuated wildly depending on which activist judge heard the case.⁸
Trump administration closes the loopholes permanently
The Trump administration’s ruling eliminates the ambiguity that activist judges exploited for decades.
Under the plain language of the Immigration and Nationality Act, anyone present in the United States without formal admission must be detained for the duration of their removal proceedings.⁹
No exceptions for illegals who’ve been here for years.
No special treatment for those with families or community ties.
No more bond hearings where activist judges release criminals onto American streets.
The ruling applies to millions of illegal aliens currently in the country, including those released at the border under Biden-era parole programs.¹⁰
Immigration and Customs Enforcement holds nearly 60,000 people in detention as of June 2025, the highest number in American history and 140% over federally funded capacity.¹¹
With Trump’s new funding allowing for an average daily population of 100,000 detainees, ICE now has the resources and legal authority to actually enforce America’s immigration laws.¹²
Left-wing immigration activists are already howling about "indefinite detention" and filing lawsuits in friendly district courts.
They’re furious that Trump found a way to stop their catch-and-release racket permanently.
But the Supreme Court already held in 2018 that applicants for admission are subject to mandatory detention.¹³
The high court will probably extend that precedent to cover illegal aliens found in the interior who entered without inspection.
For the first time in three decades, illegal aliens who break America’s laws won’t get rewarded with a "get out of jail free" card from some left-wing activist judge.
They’ll stay detained until they’re removed from the country.
That’s how immigration enforcement was always supposed to work.
¹ "BIA Rules Illegal Entrants Are Ineligible for Bond," Center for Immigration Studies, September 10, 2025.
² "BIA Decision Strips Immigration Judges of Bond Authority," American Immigration Council, September 12, 2025.
³ Ibid.
⁴ "Rapid Response Update on Bond Eligibility for Undocumented Immigrants," National Immigration Law Center, September 12, 2025.
⁵ "BIA Rules Illegal Entrants Are Ineligible for Bond," Center for Immigration Studies, September 10, 2025.
⁶ "Speed Over Fairness: Deportation Under the Obama Administration," American Civil Liberties Union, February 27, 2023.
⁷ "Detained Immigrants Seeking Release on Bond Have Widely Different Outcomes," Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse.
⁸ Ibid.
⁹ "BIA Decision Strips Immigration Judges of Bond Authority," American Immigration Council, September 12, 2025.
¹⁰ "Rapid Response Update on Bond Eligibility for Undocumented Immigrants," National Immigration Law Center, September 12, 2025.
¹¹ "Explainer: Immigration Removal Proceedings and Expanded Mandatory Detention in the U.S.," National Immigration Forum, July 28, 2025.
¹² "ICE moves to end bond hearings for detained migrants," LiveNOW from FOX, July 16, 2025.
¹³ "BIA Rules Illegal Entrants Are Ineligible for Bond," Center for Immigration Studies, September 10, 2025.
